"He thought being a soldier would be a romantic thing," said his sister, Alicia Schroeder of Kaysville, Utah. "It was all about action and adventure. Once he got to West Point, it wasn't everything he thought it would be. It was a lot harder."

But Dalley, 27, wasn't about to let the military academy conquer him. With hard work and determination, he graduated, then backpacked around Europe, ran with the bulls in Spain, jumped out of airplanes and went whitewater rafting.

Last August, Dalley was deployed from Baumholder, Germany, where he was stationed, to Iraq with the Army's 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division. He died Nov. 17 in Baghdad from a nonhostile gunshot wound.

Schroeder said her brother had many more plans after he returned from Iraq. He wanted a pilot's license. He wanted to surf. He wanted to earn millions of dollars and retire at the age of 35--all realistic goals within his reach, his sister said.

He was also engaged.

"Nothing held him back," his sister said.

But Dalley did have one Achilles' heel--chess. Schroeder said her brother marveled at the game's strategy, but hated to lose. He was continually reading books to try to improve.